Of the reasonableness of Christian religion by H.H. D.D.

CHAP. VI. (Book 6)

The exceptions against Christ's Commands.

[Sect. 1] IT remains that I proceede to Christs Commands under the Gospel, and shew the rationalness of them.

[Sect. 2] And having done it so largely already on the head of Ad∣vantages, I shall now onely descend to that one, against which our Modern Exceptions are most frequently made, viz.

[Sect. 3] The great Fundamentall dutie of taking up the Crosse to follow CHRIST; i. e. of approving my Obedience to CHRIST in all and every particular, even when the extrea∣mest danger, the loss of my Life is like to be the Price to be paid for it.

[Sect. 4] The unreasonableness of this is argued and concluded from the contrarietie of it to that liberty of self-defence, and to that Law of self-preservation; which nature is supposed to dictate to every man. And the shewing the weaknesse of this Ob∣jection, will be a full vindication of the rationalness of the Precept.

[Sect. 5] And this is done by putting us in minde, what is meant by Self-preservation, and what by Nature, and what by Law. A man is made up of a Body, and a Soul, a mortal and an immortal part, and those may be considered either severally, or united: And consequently Self-preservation may be set to signifie any one, or more of these four things. Either, first, the preserving that material mortal part of him from present hurt, or secondly, pre∣serving the immortal part of him in well, and happy being, or thirdly, preserving the present union of one of these with the other, or fourthly, the providing for the perpetual happy union of them eternally. The first is the preserving the body, and with it the estate, and liberty, and reputation, &c. from present loss or diminution. The second is preserving the Soul in innocence, or virtue. The third is preserving of this life of ours, which wee live in the naturall Body. And the fourth is providing for a

joyfull Resurrection, and an everlasting Life attending it.

[Sect. 6] Then for Nature, that may signifie either blinde unenlight∣ned Nature, which sees no more then the reflection upon it self, and the Book of the Creatures, and Natural instincts repre∣sent to it; or else Nature, as it is enlightned by Revelation, i. e. by Gods making known some things in his Word, which Nature had never known, had they not been thus revealed: Such are the Doctrines of our Faith, and particularly the eter∣nal rewards, and punishments which are revealed to us in the Scripture.

[Sect. 7] Then for Laws, those may be either absolute, and peremptory, which yield not to any superior Laws; or else conditional, and subordinate, when a superior Law doth not interpose to the contrary.

[Sect. 8] To bring all this home to our present discourse. If by self-preservation be meant either the first, or the third notion of the self, the preserving my body, or my life, then though it may truly be said that it is a Law of Nature, that men may, and that (when no superior Law requires the contrary) they ought, and are bound to preserve these imperfect mutilate selves, these bodies; yet then as there is a higher notion of a man then as that barely signifies his Body, his Soul being the far more ex∣cellent part of him, and the eternall union of body and Soul to∣gether, being most eminently the Notion, that he is con∣cerned in, so there must be a superior Law of self-preservation, then that which commands onely the preserving the Body, and though bare un-lightned Nature, that is able to look no far∣ther then this life, doe not give any Law in this matter, yet Na∣ture being supposed instructed in the Christian Doctrine, that there is another life of Body, and Soul after this, to last for ever, must needs be resolved to do it, it being impossible, that reason∣able Nature, when two things are represented so distant, as the life of a few yeers here in the midst of such sad mixtures, and an everlasting life hereafter in the fulness of all joyes, should not enjoyn the preserving of the latter, even with the contempt of the former, when the care of the former may bring any danger to the latter.

[Sect. 9] The short of it is, That when eternal life is in the hand of

Christ to give to them, that continue obedient and constant to him, and to none else, and when the fearing of them which can hurt, and kill the body, the caring for, or preserving of this present life, doth at any time, or in any case, resist, or obstruct the performance of that duty, which Christ then requires or expects from me; there Nature commands me to despise the less, and preserve the greater; and if it be not absolutely willing to Sacrifice the present to the eternall Life, and con∣sequently to prefer the obeying of Christ to the preserving of this fading short life, it must acknowledge it self a blinde Hea∣then Nature, (that knows nothing of an eternall future life, and of him that can cast both Body and Soul into Hell) or else an irrational wilde Nature, that knows these distances of finite, and infinite, and doth not thinke them worth con∣sidering.

[Sect. 10] It is therefore my most charitable opinion of those that ob∣ject the Principle of self-preservation to the Doctrine of taking up the Crosse, and determine us free from the Obligation of paying obedience to Christ, when it cannot be done without endangering of Estate, or Life, that they speak out of their memory onely, what they have read in Books of that supreame Law of the preserving ones self, but do not withall remember, that if that self signified onely the Body, it was the Philosophie of them, that knew nothing of the immortality of the Soul, or the endlesness of an other Life, or if they were aware of the Christian Doctrines of eternity, they never called the Body, that self, that was to be so solicitously tended.

[Sect. 11] And therefore it is observable in the first Ages of the Church, that those Hereticks that were enemies of the Crosse of Christ, that taught it to be a 1.1 indifferent and lawfull in time of Perse∣cution to forswear, and renounce Christ, and offer Sacrifice to Idols, were a sort of men (the Gnosticks) that immerst them∣selves in all unnaturall filthiness, and depended not at all on the Promises of another Life, and having first taught, that

Christ did not b 1.2 really suffer in the Flesh, but onely in ap∣pearance, would not be perswaded that either hee had any c 1.3 need of their lives, or indeed exspected it from them, d 1.4 being come, as they said, to save their lives, to die, that they might not be killed. Where the mistake was clear and visible, that they thought they were these transitory Lives, that Christ came to preserve, and not those other lives, which were to be convey∣ed over to Eternity.

[Sect. 12] The fate of those Gnosticks at that time, was very remark∣able, and that which will render our irrational fondness of these bodily lives yet more irrational. Their great care was to pre∣serve their lives, and their prime dexterity, in order to that, to comply constantly with the powerful persecutor; that was, especially, with the Jews; (for though the Sword was in the Heathens hand, yet the great malice against the Christians was in the Synagogue, from * 1.5 thence sprang all the Persecutions.) To this end, those Gnosticks took upon them to be great zealots for the Mosaical Law of Circumcision, and generally pieced with the Jews, and approved themselves to them. At last the Roman Army comes against Jerusalem, takes Jews, and Gnosticks together, and destroyes them all; and so Christ was as re∣markably a true Prophet in that, as in any one particular, That he that would save his life, should lose it, (that very tempo∣rall life, that all his compliance with the Jews was designed to save) and hee that would lose, i. e. venture, and lay down his Life for Christs sake, should finde it, i. e. have it more pro∣bably preserved, and continued to him here, then they that were most solicitous for it, and, whether he lost or kept it here, have it restored to him to continue eternally.

[Sect. 13] And if that promise of the Gospel have truth in any sense of it; then is the command no irrational command, of taking up the Cross to follow Christ, when he can, if it be for thy turn, except

of thy taking up the cross, without its bearing thee, or, if he do not, can pay thee abundantly, for what thou losest, reward thee with Eternity.

[Sect. 14] If I could foresee any other command of Christ, that could fall under our jealousie, and censure: I should proceede to it, and be confident of approving it exactly rational. As it is, I am at an end of my designed Method, and am glad it hath been contrived into so small a compass, being now at leisure to retire to my Meditations, which will, I hope, be more calm, being thus disburthened, and make it my first Theme to dis∣course with my▪ self, how extremely rational it is, that those very turns of Providence, which have been our great tempta∣tion, and they say, made many Atheists among us, should be reviewed again, and upon second demurer thoughts engage, and instruct us all to become more Christian.

Who is wise, and he shall understand these things; Prudent, and hee shall know them? For the wayes of the Lord are right, and the just shall walke in them, but the transgressor shall fall therein,

Hos. 14. 9.

FINIS.

Notes

• a 1.1

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Euseb. l. 4. Eccles. Hist. c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Euseb. l. 6. c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. out of Origen on Psal. 82.
• b 1.2

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, vid. Ig∣natii Ep. ad Smyrn. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, vid. Cyril. Hier. Catech. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Non hic, nec apud homines confessionem putant constitutam, sed in coelo. Tertul. cont. Gnost. c. 10.
• c 1.3

  Nec Deus humanum sanguinem sitit, nec Christus vicem passionis, quasi ipse de eà salutem consecuturus, exposcit. Tertul. cont. Gnost, cap. 15.
• d 1.4

  Semel Christus pro nobis obiit, semel occisus, ne occideremur, si vicem exspectat, num & ille salutem de meâ nece exspectat? Tert. cont. Gnost. c. 1.
• * 1.5

  Synagogae Judaeorum fontes perse∣cutionum, Terti. b. c. 10.